Authorities used explosives to demolish a five-meter outdoor Buddhist statue in Hubei Province for supposedly obstructing the view for airplanes.
The Guanyin statue, a sacred site for Buddhists, was located on Hubei Province’s Xiaolei Mountain, which is designated as a national tourist attraction. On ordinary days, the mountain used to be crowded with believers, and during religious festivals, even more visitors came to worship. However, even this holy place did not escape the CCP’s nationwide campaign to demolish Buddhist temples and statues.
On May 25, 2018, authorities commissioned the Daye City Implosion Group to detonate the Guanyin statue because it “blocked the view for airplanes.” After a loud sound, the Guanyin statue collapsed into a pile of ruins.
According to eyewitnesses, the authorities did not evacuate the people observing the demolition, neither did they notify residents in advance about the planned activities. A villager said angrily afterward, “If we knew in advance that the government was going to destroy the Guanyin statue, we definitely would have protested against it!”
Another person noted that the Guanyin statue was less than five meters tall. “How could it block the view for airplanes? That’s ridiculous and laughable,“ he said.
Reported by Shen Xiang
The site of the detonated Guanyin statue on Xiaolei Mountain:
